John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA · CC BY-SA 2.0

An American actor, comedian, and writer who created and starred in the HBO comedy series Arliss (1996–2002), one of the network's longer-running original comedies of that era. He also played newspaper reporter Alexander Knox in Tim Burton's Batman (1989) and the wisecracking Larry in Bull Durham (1988). His work moved comfortably between creating his own television series and taking memorable supporting roles in major studio films.